Ace had his tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday morning, and we got home today. Other than some pain, not a lot of sleep, and an all out WWF match in the anesthesia recovery room, it went well. He had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Apparently his tonsils and adenoids were so huge, they were blocking his airways while he slept. He had what they call "+4" tonsils, which means they were almost touching in the middle. The resulting sleep and oxygen deprivation was causing a multitude of problems, like slowed growth velocity, agitation, aggression, very frequent night wakings, and just an overall inability to cope with the stresses of preschool-aged life. We were so relieved to get the diagnosis, because, frankly, we'd begun to worry. Actually, I'd never even heard of OSA in children until I reluctantly listened to a lecture on ADHD, given to me by a counselor from church. (I'm not a fan of the ADHD diagnosis, its treatments, and a whole lot of other stuff about it, so I would pretty much blow off anyone who suggested he might have "that" problem. What was really starting to bug me was that as his behavior continued to decline, that dreaded acronym was coming up more and more. I was starting to stress, not only because of the possibility of ADHD, but because his typical obedient behavior didn't fit the description. He wasn't a super disobedient kid with no attention span, just an energetic and exuberant boy who was a bit impulsive and really angry and emotional way too often. But, always the wise man, Arich convinced me that I needed to be open minded and at least listen to the CD for potential behavior management tools.) The first thing the lecturer talked about was actually a side note: many kiddos diagnosed with ADHD really have OSA. At first I didn't think much of it. But a couple of nights later, I went into Ace's room to check on him and, lo and behold, the kid wasn't breathing. I stopped and listened for about five seconds, after which he snorted and started up with his usual snoring. He's always been a snorer (which I didn't know is a red flag for OSA in kids), but I'd never witnessed an apnea episode until that night. We took him to the pediatrician a couple of days later. When he saw the monster tonsils, the pediatrician referred us to the ENT doc, and here we are three weeks later. The ENT said he had an obstruction (which resolved) as soon as the anesthesiologist put him under. It seems that God works in mysterious ways if I'll set down my pride long enough to listen to a lecture I think I don't need. This has sort of been a theme in my life.
From what I've read and been told, this surgery greatly improves quality of life for OSA kids in 95% of cases. Thanks for all your prayers. Keep them coming!
If you're wondering why I haven't posted in several days, now you know. We're moving. There's barely time for anything but bouncing off the walls, and, thanks to the chain smoker who inhabited our new apartment before us, there's also barely time for eating and sleeping. So far we've spent about 20 labor hours scouring cupboards, counters, the insides of drawers... pretty much every square inch of the place with enzymes and bleach to get rid of the tar and nicotine. Even the air conditioner has to be treated. Fortunately, they painted, but that was the extent of their attempt at detoxing the unit. Oh well... we're getting a super good deal, and almost half of the units in the complex are inhabited by fellow Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay folks. And that brings me to the super cute pic, which captures Ace and his friend Anna watching a flick together on moving day one... actually, that was cleaning day one.
